The bill's sponsor says people have emotional attachments to their pets and sometimes remain in dangerous situations because they don't want to leave them behind.(Photo: Flickr)

Pets could be included in court-ordered protection orders if a state senator in Ohio gets his way.

Under a bill being considered in the Ohio Senate, pets could be included in protection orders in cases of alleged domestic abuse and other crimes.

Sen. Michael Skindell, D-Lakewood, told the Senate’s Criminal Justice Committee this week that people have emotional attachments to their pets and sometimes remain in dangerous situations because they don’t want to leave them behind.

Skindell noted that 71 percent of pet-owning women who entered a domestic-violence shelter reported that their partner killed, harmed or threatened their animal.

He said two dozen other states already have similar laws on the books.

Prospective Ohio drivers would see added training requirements and the Bureau of Motor Vehicles would be allowed to accept credit and debit cards under a state transportation budget that easily cleared the Ohio House on Tuesday.